​WHAT’S UP NEXT? #February2022

For as long as I can remember, February has been one of my busiest months.  When I taught at the #AfricentricAlternativeSchool and other schools, February meant planning school assemblies and preparing my students for performances.  It’s also the month when I coordinated and hosted #ICEDINBLACK, a touring film festival that I founded.  February is also a great time to check out #BlackHistorymonth events.

February, as a #Blackauthor, like other #Blackartists, is incredibly busy as the demand for school presentations increases to an already busy schedule as a #gradstudent, #writer, #part-time #writingprofessor, and other roles.

To ensure this schedule is manageable, I:

- schedule author visits on certain days of the week
- decided to set a cutoff date of February 1st (TODAY) to schedule or until all my presentation dates are scheduled 
- maintain my self-care routine which includes prayer, exercise , and staying connected with friends and family, including travelling to attend a funeral as well as celebrating a birthday 

These are small modifications and I will update this schedule weekly. A both exciting and challenging aspect of being an #artrepreneur is I run all aspects of my writing career. So please be patient with me. My goal this year is to implement more balance in my  busy life.

Happy #AfricanLiberationMonth!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Chug Mung Nam Moy! Happy Lunar New Year! 

Please celebrate 🎉 and support #Blackkidlit authors.

Twenty years ago, before my 1st #picturebook #MalaikasCostume 📖 was given out across Canada 🇨🇦, I founded a #festival that #nationally toured #BlackCanadian #films.

When I had the idea💡, I was 23 years old & in my final year of undergrad in #HonoursPsych at the Univ. of Waterloo.

I saw a need.  At the time, there were a few #Black film #initatives in the country— but no #filmfestival focused exclusively on #Canadian content.

I approached #wpirg about sponsoring my idea 💡 and in 2001, the first #ICEDINBLACK: #CanadianBlack Experiences on Film was held at #UniversityofWaterloo, pre-social media era.  Volunteers signed up and helped me to run the event.  By year 2, I received grant funding and toured the #festival to 3 cities in #Canada.  By year 3, a larger grant allowed the festival to go to 9— #Toronto, #Waterloo, #Ottawa, #Montreal, #Halifax, #Winnipeg, #Edmonton, #Vancouver, and #Victoria. While still a student, I went to all of these cities and a few #filmmakers were able to join parts of the tour. 

I don’t talk very much about #ICEDINBLACK. By 2003, the model wasn’t sustainable.  That I understand now.

But at 25, I felt like it was a huge failure.  I was financially broke, burned out, and felt humiliated bc the persons who doubted/laughed at my festival turned out to be right.  Afterwards, I avoided the #film and #arts scenes.  It took me several years to recover.

But if I could speak to that young woman now, I would hug her, send her on vacation, and tell her how proud I am of her.  She had a lot of guts and vision for #ICEDINBLACK. Since 2003, many of the #filmmaker alumni are doing amazingly and the number of #BlackCandian filmmakers has increased tremendously.

Thanks all who were part of the journey.ck here to edit.